It's the sort of project that immediately makes one think of Jim Carrey or Steve Carell – and indeed, both were reportedly attached at different stages. But The Beaver, a Charlie Kaufman-esque comedy about a man who believes the hand puppet that never leaves his wrist is real, looks set to star the rather unlikely figure of Mel Gibson.

Gibson has mainly stayed behind the camera since then, directing the biblical tale The Passion of the Christ and the critically acclaimed Apocalypto. But he's due back on the big screen next January, in Martin Campbell's movie adaptation of the classic 1985 BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness, playing a policeman investigating the murder of his daughter. It will be his first lead role since Signs back in 2002.

Foster has directed two previous films, the 1995 family drama Home for the Holidays and 1991's Little Man Tate, about a single mother who tries to do her best for her gifted son. The Beaver would reunite her with Gibson – they starred in Richard Donner's lighthearted 1994 western Maverick, with Foster playing a youthful con artist opposite Gibson's wisecracking gambler.